Columbia Sportswear Unveils Bold New Brand Platform Celebrating the Extremes of Outdoor Adventures

Columbia Sportswear has launched a new brand campaign, "Engineered for Whatever," which celebrates the brand's irreverent spirit and highlights its gear's performance in extreme conditions. The campaign, developed in partnership with London-based creative agency adam&eveDDB, will roll out across all of Columbia's consumer and marketing channels, showcasing outrageous scenarios that put a playful lens on outdoor adventures. The campaign is a nod to Columbia's roots and its commitment to designing thoughtfully engineered gear tested in the most extreme conditions.

Columbia Sportswear (Nasdaq: COLM) has launched a new brand campaign, "Engineered for Whatever," which celebrates the brand's irreverent spirit and highlights its gear's performance in extreme conditions. The campaign, developed in partnership with London-based creative agency adam&eveDDB, will roll out across all of Columbia's consumer and marketing channels, showcasing outrageous scenarios that put a playful lens on outdoor adventures [1].

The "Engineered for Whatever" campaign is a nod to Columbia's roots and its commitment to designing thoughtfully engineered gear tested in the most extreme conditions. The campaign aims to bring back the humor and gritty gear testing that made Columbia a maverick in the outdoor industry and a beloved brand around the world [1].

"Since Day One, Columbia hasn’t cared about fitting in with everyone else. Over the years, the outdoor category became a sea of sameness," said Joe Boyle, Executive Vice President and Columbia Brand President. "Our new campaign brings us back to our roots, being unafraid to be different, and even a bit crazy. We’re going back to that irreverent, confident tone that helped put us on the map as a global brand" [1].

The campaign will kick off this fall with original content putting Columbia’s gear to the ultimate test in over-the-top scenarios. In today’s brand debut, the campaign kicks off with visceral, irreverent and downright bonkers content that reminds humans that mother nature will put you to the test and you need to have the right gear [1].

Upcoming advertising and content this fall will spotlight outlandish scenarios and celebrity cameos in scenarios featuring crocodiles, human snowballs, and the grim reaper himself. The campaign will be amplified through out-of-home advertising, digital and social content, retail buildouts, creative activations, partnerships, and more [1].

Columbia Sportswear's financial performance for the second quarter (Q2) of 2025 shows a 6% increase in net sales on a constant-currency basis, totaling $605.2 million, slightly ahead of its outlook. Net sales in the wholesale channel rose by 14%, while direct-to-consumer (DTC) net sales declined by 1%. The company's gross margin expanded by 120 basis points to 49.1% of net sales, up from 47.9% for the comparable period in 2024 [2].

Despite sales growth in most international markets, the US market displayed underlying weakness with a net sales drop of 2%. The company’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Latin America and Asia Pacific (LAAP) regions both grew by a double-digit percentage in the first half, led by China, Japan, Europe direct, and international distributor markets [2].

Columbia Sportswear's chairman, president, and CEO Tim Boyle stated, "Second quarter and first half financial results reflect sustained momentum in our international markets. While business trends in our US business remain soft, we continue to take steps to re-energise the Columbia brand through our Accelerate growth strategy" [2].

The company provided a cautious financial outlook for fiscal year 2025 due to global trade policy uncertainties and macroeconomic concerns. For fiscal 2025, the company expects net sales between $3.33 billion and $3.40 billion, indicating a potential decline of up to 1% or an increase of up to 1% compared to fiscal year 2024 [2].

Columbia Sportswear recently initiated a lawsuit against Columbia University, claiming that the university's merchandise infringes on its trademarks and could potentially lead to consumer confusion. The legal action, filed on 23 July in a federal court located in Oregon, accuses the New York City-based Ivy League institution of deliberately breaching a contract both parties agreed upon on 13 June 2023 [3].

References:
[1] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250804020886/en/Engineered-for-Whatever-Columbia-Sportswear-Debuts-Bold-New-Brand-Platform-Celebrating-the-Extremes-of-Outdoor-Adventures
[2] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/columbia-sportswear-faces-steep-tariff-101854582.html
[3] https://www.marketbeat.com/instant-alerts/filing-universal-beteiligungs-und-servicegesellschaft-mbh-makes-new-investment-in-columbia-sportswear-company-nasdaqcolm-2025-08-02/